Belarus and Pakistan to boost bilateral trade to $1 billion, signed 18 agreements
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Belarus and Pakistan to boost bilateral trade to $1 billion and signed 18 agreements, reports Dispatch News Desk news agency.
In a joint press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday after one-on-one talks, Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and his Belarusian counterpart Andrey Kobyakov said that they had a very productive round of talks that reviewed progress and agreed on concrete steps to further enhance their bilateral cooperation.
They said that they agreed on a roadmap for economic cooperation between Pakistan and Belarus. They also expressed the resolve to increase their bilateral trade up to $1 billion with a focus on industrial cooperation, agriculture and infrastructure development.
Sharif said that during the talks the two sides also discussed regional and global issues, besides taking decisions to further fortify their ties that encompass many new areas.
The prime minister that it was the third high level exchange between the two countries in the past six months and was reflective of the importance the two sides give to their robust relationship.
Earlier, the two prime minister held a one-on-one meeting and discussed issues of bilateral interest with particular focus on enhancing cooperation in trade, defence and culture.
They agreed on strengthening ties at the governmental and people-to-people levels for the mutual benefit of their countries.
The Belarusian prime minister who is on a three-day official visit to Islamabad expressed interest to explore the areas of economy and humanitarian cooperation through launch of two Roadmaps.
It may be mentioned that both countries on Tuesday inked 18 accords of cooperation in diverse fields including the joint launch of two Roadmaps on economic and humanitarian cooperation.
The two countries inked seven Agreements, six Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and three Protocols to Agreements in addition to the two Programmes on Roadmaps during the visit of Belarusian Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov to Islamabad.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his Belarusian counterpart Andrey Kobyakov signed the Programme titled “Roadmap for fast-track and middle-track economic cooperation between Pakistan and Belarus,” at a ceremony held here at the PM House.
The Programme on the “Roadmap of Belarusian-Pakistani Humanitarian Cooperation year 2015-2020” was signed by Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rasheed and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov.
AGREEMENTS:
The two Prime Ministers also signed an Agreement between their governments on mutual allotment of the land of plots for their respective diplomatic missions in Islamabad and Minsk.
The inter-governmental Agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters was signed by Advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov.
The Agreement between the Health Ministries of Pakistan and Belarus on cooperation in public health was signed by State Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov.
The Agreement on cooperation between the Government of Punjab and the Minsk Region Executive Committee of Belarus was signed by Chief Secretary, Punjab Khizar Hayat Gondal and Deputy Chairman of Minsk Regional Executive Committee Mr. O.Plavski.
The Agreement on cooperation between the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Brest Branch of Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) was inked by President KCCI Younis Muhammad Bashir and Chairman BCCI Mr. M.Miatlikov.
The Agreement on cooperation between the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Mogilev Branch of Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) was inked by President Lahore CCI Sheikh Muhammad Arshad and Chairman BCCI Mr. M.Miatlikov.
The Agreement between the City District Government, Lahore, Punjab and the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee (MREC) on the establishment and development of commerce-economic, scientific-technical and cultural ties was signed by Chief Secretary, Punjab Khizar Hayat Gondal and Deputy Chairman MREC Mr V.Nekrashevich.
PROTOCOLS:
The Protocol to the Agreement on mutual cooperation between the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (Pakistan) and Ministry of Education (Belarus) in the field of education was signed by State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman and Education Minister of Belarus Mr. Zhuravkov.
The Cooperation Protocol between the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad and the Belarusian State University, Minsk was signed by Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi and Education Minister of Belarus Mr. Zhuravkov.
The Protocol on cooperation between the Government of Balochistan and the Brest Regional Executive Committee, Belarus was inked by Chief Secretary, Balochistan Saifullah Chattha and Deputy Chairman of Brest Regional Executive Committee Mr. A.Klets.
MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING (MoUs):
Two MoUs were signed between the Ministry for National Food Security and Research, Pakistan and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Belarus on cooperation in veterinary and sanitary field and also in the field of plant quarantine and application of phyto-sanitary measures. The respective Ministers Sikandar Hayat Bosan and Mr. Zayats signed the documents.
The MoU on cooperation between the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Vitebsk Region, Belarus was signed by Chief Secretary, KPK Amjad Ali Khan and Chairman of Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Mr. N.Shertnev.
The Government of Sindh signed two MoUs on trade-economic, scientific-technical and cultural-humanitarian collaboration with Gomel Regional Executive Committee, Belarus and the Regional Executive Committee of Grodno, Belarus. The respective documents were signed by Chief Secretary, Sindh Siddique Memon, Deputy Chairman of Gomel Regional Executive Committee Mr. A.Pirshtouk and Deputy Chairman of Grodno Regional Executive Committee Mr. Y.Shuleiko.
The MoU between Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and Minsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) was inked by President ICCI Atif Ikram Sheikh and Chairman MCCI Mr M. Miatlikov.